At the Bluebird Cafe

by jenna on September 19, 2010

Happy Sunday!

Yesterday afternoon, Almanzo and I took a trip up north to Mendocino to visit some friends. The area was gorgeous (even if the weather wasn’t!) and we ended up staying the night and then taking a leisurely drive home this morning, stopping for a late breakfast at the Bluebird Cafe in Ukiah.

There’s just something about small town diners that gets me every time. I could totally imagine a varsity football team coming here after practice for burgers and shakes, or a family making this their weekly brunch destination. The interior of the diner was cute and decorated in old timey signs and newspaper clippings, but the real thing that caught my eye was this:

And this:

Any diner that makes homemade pastries is an instant win in my book. Even better was the fact that they deliver a basket of them straight to your table right when you sit down!

Friends, there are times when self control goes right out the window.

This was one of those times.

I actually didn’t eat that cinnamon roll–I opted instead for the spiral raspberry danish that fell apart in sweet, buttery sheets in my mouth. What more can I say?

For my meal itself (although I could have made a meal just out of the bread basket), I chose the Bluebird Benedict but without the hollandaise sauce.

I’m not a big fan of hollandaise. I think it’s because it made me cry in culinary school when it kept breaking during a practical exam…but that’s another post for another time.

The homefries were delicious as well!

Even though I sort of feel like a stuffed sausage right now, it was worth it. I just might need to do a few extra lunges across my living room to fit into my jeans tonight.

This made me laugh out loud about the lunges. Totally have to do them after I devour home fries or tater tots. I lose all self-control when it comes to them! And there’s no place like a hole-in-the-wall diner. They have that homey feel to them and are a great place to go on the weekend!

I really like diners like this. We had a lot of them back in Nebraska but not so much here in the city:( I used to work night shift and every Friday after work (7:00 am) a group of us would go to a place called the Diner and have coffee and poached eggs. I loved those meals.

I’m not a fan of hollandaise sauce but the only reason I have is because I don’t like the taste:)

I LOVE diners too & have had memorable times in some of them along the Sonoma Coast & up to Mendocino. Like one scary stormy black night driving back to San Francisco from up north–we stopped in a place with a wooden floor that you walked over & made sounds as if an actor in a Spaghetti Western. There was a pot belly stove blazing–delicious stew & homemade biscuits. The only other people in there was a group of about 10 French tourists–with their scarfs tied as if by abstruse Einstein physics secret. So delicious & fun!

Hi! I’ve been following for a while but this is my first comment!
I just spent a weekend up in Mendocino, so gorgeous! Did you eat anything exciting there? We always enjoy Northcoast Brewing Company…but mostly for the beer:)

Haha I’m laughing at the lunges… I definitely do that, too. I love little diners like that! We found one out while we were driving around today, I so wish we had a place like it where I live That bread basket though… wow. Yum.

Oh what a great choice! But I have to say I am SUCH a cinny roll girl that it coulda been hard keeping me away from the cinny rolls!

Mendocino and staying the night, kinda on a whim….ahhh, how awesome! I love that you LIVE your life to the fullest. I remember those types of things w/ my hubs before that thing called parenthood made life more planned and less spontaneous but one day I will get back to it

oh my gosh, oh my gosh… it’s like the universe is speaking to me. lol! mendocino is my ultimate living destination! and what serendipity for one of my favorite bloggers to visit and show me its potential! EEK! *favorite-ing this post right now*

At a private club I worked at, all the members (average age: 80) would order a basket of cinnamons BEFORE their dinner. I think they were made with pork fat, so everyone loved them. (as a vegan, I stuck with munching on the garnishes to the buffet table. :D)